CWE-397 Base Brouillon

Declaration of Throws for Generic Exception

This vulnerability occurs when a method is declared to throw an overly broad exception type, such as a generic 'Exception' or 'Throwable'. This practice masks the specific error conditions that can…

Définition

What is CWE-397?

This vulnerability occurs when a method is declared to throw an overly broad exception type, such as a generic 'Exception' or 'Throwable'. This practice masks the specific error conditions that can occur, making it difficult for calling code to handle failures appropriately.
Declaring a method to throw a generic exception like `Exception` forces callers into generic error handling. Instead of being able to anticipate and write specific recovery code for different failure scenarios—like `FileNotFoundException` versus `AccessDeniedException`—developers are left with a catch-all block. This obscures the root cause, often leading to inappropriate user responses and making debugging significantly harder. Catching these overly broad declarations manually is tedious, especially in large codebases. While SAST tools can flag the pattern, Plexicus uses AI to not only detect the issue but also suggest the precise, narrower exception types to declare, automating the remediation and saving valuable development time.
Impact réel

Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-397

Aucune référence CVE publique n'est liée à ce CWE dans le catalogue MITRE pour le moment.

Comment les attaquants l'exploitent

Parcours de l'attaquant étape par étape

  1. 1

    The following method throws three types of exceptions.

  2. 2

    While it might seem tidier to write

  3. 3

    doing so hampers the caller's ability to understand and handle the exceptions that occur. Further, if a later revision of doExchange() introduces a new type of exception that should be treated differently than previous exceptions, there is no easy way to enforce this requirement.

  4. 4

    Early versions of C++ (C++98, C++03, C++11) included a feature known as Dynamic Exception Specification. This allowed functions to declare what type of exceptions it may throw. It is possible to declare a general class of exception to cover any derived exceptions that may be thrown.

  5. 5

    In the example above, the code declares that myfunction() can throw an exception of type "std::exception" thus hiding details about the possible derived exceptions that could potentially be thrown.

Exemple de code vulnérable

Vulnerable Java

While it might seem tidier to write

Vulnérable Java 
public void doExchange() throws Exception {
  	...
  }
Exemple de code sécurisé

Secure Java

The following method throws three types of exceptions.

Sécurisé Java 
public void doExchange() throws IOException, InvocationTargetException, SQLException {
  	...
  }
What changed: the unsafe sink is replaced (or the input is validated/escaped) so the same payload no longer triggers the weakness.
Liste de contrôle de prévention

How to prevent CWE-397

  • Architecture Use safe-by-default frameworks and APIs that prevent the unsafe pattern from being expressible.
  • Implementation Validate input at trust boundaries; use allowlists, not denylists.
  • Implementation Apply the principle of least privilege to credentials, file paths, and runtime permissions.
  • Testing Cover this weakness in CI: SAST rules + targeted unit tests for the data flow.
  • Operation Monitor logs for the runtime signals listed in the next section.
Signaux de détection

How to detect CWE-397

Automated Static Analysis High

Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)

Correction automatique Plexicus

Plexicus détecte automatiquement CWE-397 et ouvre une PR de correction en moins de 60 secondes.

Codex Remedium analyse chaque commit, identifie cette faiblesse précise et livre une pull request prête à être relue avec le correctif. Pas de tickets. Pas de transferts.

Obtenir une démo Essayer Plexicus gratuitement
Questions fréquentes

Frequently asked questions

Qu'est-ce que CWE-397 ?

This vulnerability occurs when a method is declared to throw an overly broad exception type, such as a generic 'Exception' or 'Throwable'. This practice masks the specific error conditions that can occur, making it difficult for calling code to handle failures appropriately.

Quelle est la gravité de CWE-397 ?

MITRE n'a pas publié de note de probabilité d'exploitation pour cette faiblesse. Traitez-la comme un impact moyen jusqu'à ce que votre modèle de menace prouve le contraire.

Quels langages ou plateformes sont affectés par CWE-397 ?

MITRE lists the following affected platforms: C++, C#, Java, Python.

Comment puis-je prévenir CWE-397 ?

Use safe-by-default frameworks, validate untrusted input at trust boundaries, and apply the principle of least privilege. Cover the data-flow signature in CI with SAST.

Comment Plexicus détecte et corrige CWE-397 ?

Le moteur SAST de Plexicus reconnaît la signature de flux de données de CWE-397 à chaque commit. Lorsqu'une correspondance est trouvée, notre agent Codex Remedium ouvre une PR de correction avec le code corrigé, les tests et un résumé d'une ligne pour le relecteur.

Où puis-je en savoir plus sur CWE-397 ?

MITRE publie la définition canonique à https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/397.html. Vous pouvez également consulter la documentation OWASP et NIST pour des conseils adjacents.

Faiblesses associées

Weaknesses related to CWE-397

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Use of NullPointerException Catch to Detect NULL Pointer Dereference

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CWE-396 Frère

Declaration of Catch for Generic Exception

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Ressources

Further reading

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